Hi! It's been a while since I posted any new pictures, but two more of the needle-felted dwarves are finished!

This time it's Dwalin and Bofur, and I'll post Bofur first --- following with Dwalin in a reply to this post, since I want to include photos of each.

Just first off (as a note), Bofur and Bombur are going to be down at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus, which means they are on display from July 26 through August 6. So, if anyone goes to the fair this year, you can see them in the Cardinal Hall building.

Bofur stands 9" tall (without his hat), weighs a hefty 4-1/4 ounces and was felted with .40 and .42 felting needles. It took approximately 61 hours to complete him, which translated into about three months of working on the doll. He's felted from a variety of wool types, so I've made a fiber chart which is the last of the six photos. All of the thumbnail photos below click to full size images. Finishing Bofur means that one whole family group is finally done! Bifur, Bofur and Bombur are shown together in a photo below. My sister made the hat out of a nice piece of worn leather. It's wired and lined with felted Gotland wool. She also hand-sewed Bofur's canvas bag and made his leather belt. He also has leather boots made from Elk leather, with dyed-Gotland soles and Goat fur tops. The doll is made out of solid wool with a natural colored Romney wool used for his body. This wool felts very firmly, so he has no wood or wire inside of him (none of the needle-felted dwarves have any frame in them).

Okay, photos of Dwalin coming in the reply below. :) He is waiting his turn to go to the fair . . . hopefully next year, when Balin can go with him!

He was felted with .40 and .42 felting needles, stands 9-3/8" tall, weighs four ounces and took approximately 57 hours to complete. My sister made his leather harness, matching hand armour and his earrings. She also drew his tattoos! Dwalin is made of a variety of wools, but I haven't gotten around to making a fiber chart for him. His pants and tunic are made of wool that my Mom and I actually Kool-Aid dyed last summer. The pants are Blue Faced Leicester, and the tunic is Grey Gotland. His boots are a mix of black Finnish and Norwegian, his sleeves are Merino, and his skin is Cotswold. His hair is actually natural colored Lincoln Long Wool, and his fur boot tops and mantle are Mink.

Just as a follow-up to the above, and in case someone has not seen these before. I'm working on making a set of needle-felted art dolls of Thorin's company. I do all the felting and wool work, and my amazing sister makes the little leather and metal accessories. The dolls range from 8-1/2 to 9-3/8". Here are some links to photos of the dolls on my website, plus links to other posts about them on this forum.

Thanks for the comments! These are so much fun to make, and each dwarf has such an individual character and expression.

Yep, the green in Bofur's hand is the Athelas. I forgot to mention that. Originally, Elizabeth and I thought it would be cute to have the flute, but then we thought of the Athelas, and it had to be that!

For each character, we sat down and thought of the moment or position that was the first thing to pop into our minds for that dwarf. And that is what we're trying to do on each doll. Something that brings that character right to your mind. Although, we did opt for non-weapon poses, because weapons are hard to make at this scale and would always be fragile when displaying or transporting the doll. That's why they have everything but the weapons. Dori will have his Bolas in his belt, and Fili will have a knife in a sheath on his arm, but those are the only two who will have a weapon . . . and they won't actually be holding them. It keeps the dolls durable and much easier to handle and transport. The only pretty fragile thing on them is their hair, in most cases --- and we can't very well do without that.

Bofur was actually one of the hardest to decide on for a pose, because my favorite moment is the ". . . searing pain and poof! You're nothing but a pile of ash." Unfortunately, you can't transfer the line to felt very well!